Varese Sarabande plans to announce a new CD Club release this coming Monday. They also plan to release a new CD in their Limited Edition series.

On February 18, the label will be releasing the LP tracks to the light-jazz soundtrack to Burt Reynolds' 1981 cop thriller SHARKY'S MACHINE, as well as the song albums from two Clint Eastwood films from the era,ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN and HONKYTONK MAN. On March 11 they will release Rachel Portman's score for THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG.

Next week La-La Land plans to release an expanded edition of John Carpenter and Shirley Walker's score for the 1996 sequel ESCAPE FROM L.A., and a new edition of one of Basil Poledouris' greatest scores, for Paul Verhoeven's underrated medieval adventure FLESH + BLOOD (featuring the same tracks as the out-of-print Intrada release). They will also be selling Bear McCreary's score for the fantasy comedy KNIGHTS OF BADASSDOM from his Sparks & Shadows label.

Alexandre Desplat's Oscar-nominated score for Best Picture nominee PHILOMENA will finally receive a commercial CD release from February 25 on Decca, leaving Her as the only nominated score from this year to not receive a soundtrack release (the plausible theory is that Arcade Fire doesn't want it competing for sales with their latest album). Her is one of a handful of movies in Oscar history to receive nominations for Picture, Song and Scoring, and one of the few not to receive a soundtrack release (it took nearly five decades for a Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing soundtrack to be released). At the bottom of this column is a list of the films nominated in all three categories.

Quartet has announced four new, upcoming releases -- the first-ever release of Cliff Eiedelman's score for the 1991 comedy DELIRIOUS, starring John Candy as a TV writer who finds himself living in his own soap opera; Pierre Adenot's music for the new French version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, from director Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf, Silent Hill); a re-release of Ennio Morricone's score for the romantic drama A TIME OF DESTINY, starring William Hurt, Timothy Hutton and Melissa Leo; and Anton Garcia Abril's score for the 1974 Spanish comedy FIN DE SEMANA AL DESNUDO.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released another statement explaining the reasons for rescinding the nomination for Bruce Broughton's Alone Yet Not Alone song:

The Board of Governors’ decision to rescind the Original Song nomination for “Alone Yet Not Alone,” music by Bruce Broughton, was made thoughtfully and after careful consideration. The Academy takes very seriously anything that undermines the integrity of the Oscars® voting process. The Board regretfully concluded that Mr. Broughton’s actions did precisely that.

The nominating process for Original Song is intended to be anonymous, with each eligible song listed only by title and the name of the film in which it is used -- the idea being to prevent favoritism and promote unbiased voting. It’s been a long-standing policy and practice of the Academy -- as well as a requirement of Rule 5.3 of the 86th Academy Awards® Rules -- ­­to omit composer and lyricist credits from the DVD of eligible songs that are sent to members of the Music Branch. The Academy wants members to vote for nominees based solely on the achievement of a particular song in a movie, without regard to who may have written it.

Mr. Broughton sent an email to at least 70 of his fellow Music Branch members -- nearly one-third of the branch’s 240 members. When he identified the song as track #57 as one he had composed, and asked voting branch members to listen to it, he took advantage of information that few other potential nominees are privy to. As a former Academy Governor and current member of the Music Branch’s executive committee, Mr. Broughton should have been more cautious about acting in a way that made it appear as if he were taking advantage of his position to exert undue influence. At a minimum, his actions called into question whether the process was "fair and equitable," as the Academy's rules require. The Academy is dedicated to doing everything it can to ensure a level playing field for all potential Oscar® contenders -- including those who don’t enjoy the access, knowledge, and influence of a long-standing Academy insider.

"Director [Stuart] Beattie keeps his camera in constant motion throughout, though it’s sometimes unclear what effect he’s trying to produce. The relentlessly obtrusive score is matched in volume by the sound editing, which renders the rustling of clothes and the turning of pages in a book with floor-quaking resonance. The sets and other production design elements, however, are quite nice to look at when the camera holds still for long enough."

THE GAY DIVORCEE
ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND
THE WIZARD OF OZ
ANCHORS AWEIGH
THE BELLS OF ST. MARY’S
HIGH NOON
LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING
GIGI
THE ALAMO
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY
MARY POPPINS
DOCTOR DOLITTLE
FUNNY GIRL
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
A TOUCH OF CLASS
THE TOWERING INFERNO
THE COLOR PURPLE
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
GOOD WILL HUNTING
TITANIC
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
127 HOURS
LIFE OF PI
HER